Mercury Fall to Silver Stars

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Diana Taurasi shoots for two of her game-high 39 points in Friday's loss to the Silver Stars.

(NBAE Photos)

By Brad G. Faye, PhoenixMercury.com
Posted: June 18, 2010

After putting together back-to-back victories for the first time this season, the Mercury came up short in their attempt to win a third-straight contest on Friday night after falling to the Silver Stars, 108-105.

Following the defeat, Mercury Head Coach Corey Gaines pointed towards tempo as a key factor to why the team fell short against their Western Conference rival.

“All those free throws in the second half just really slowed the game down,” Gaines said. “It slows the game down to a crawl and it’s almost like calling 20 timeouts. The game just had way too many stoppages and when it wasn’t for free throws it was because of a clock stoppage. Those sort of things hurt us.”

Also lost in the contest was Mercury forward Penny Taylor who left late in the third quarter with an ankle sprain and did not return. Gaines said after the game that he did not have an update on her status. Despite missing the entire fourth quarter, the All-Star still managed to score 22 points behind 9-for-13 shooting.

DUPREE FALLS SHORT OF WNBA RECORD

Friday night also saw the end of Candice Dupree's streak of field goals made snapped. The forward missed a tip-in attempt in the first quarter of play that ended the run at 14. The impressive streak began on June 10th against the Lynx and continued through a 9-for-9 performance against the Shock before its conclusion on Friday.

Dupree finishes one shy of Tammy Sutton Brown's record of 15-straight field goals made while with Charlotte back in 2002.

“I don’t keep up with stuff like that, but it was brought to my attention before the game,” Dupree said acknowledging a beat reporter with a smile. “I guess he jinxed me.”

While Dupree’s streak would ultimately be snapped in the Friday night affair, the forward still managed to contribute a solid double-double with 19 points and 11 assists.

GENTRY TALKS MERCURY

A couple of weeks following his team’s amazing run to the Western Conference Finals, Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry was in attendance for Friday night’s Mercury game. A semi-regular at contests over the summer, the coach told PhoenixMercury.com that he isn’t the only fan in the Gentry household.

“I love these games and so does my son, Jack,” Gentry said. “It’s his birthday tomorrow and he wanted to head down to watch the game which I definitely didn’t have a problem with. They're enjoyable to watch and a good basketball team.”

As far as which Mercury player Gentry thinks would best adapt to playing with his NBA team, a couple of candidates came to mind.

“They have a lot of talent but I think you have to go with Diana (Taurasi),” Gentry said. “I just think she’s great and I would also have to mention Candice Dupree. Both of those players are talented enough to make an impact.”